City Budgets Remain Delayed
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Time is running out for Opelousas city officials to adopt and amend a pair of operating budgets by an Aug. 31 deadline.
The Board of Aldermen voted to delay all aspects of the 2025-26 amended and adopted budgetary processes for next year during a Tuesday night meeting at City Hall.
Those actions also canceled a proposed public hearing related to the potential passage for each budget.
Instead the Board agreed with a recommendation by Budget Committee chairman John Guilbeaux to convene another Budget Committee meeting followed by a special meeting in order to obtain more information on each budget and make recommendations that would secure passage..
A budget for the upcoming budgetary year is due by Sept. 1.
The Committee assembled for a budget meeting last month, but Guilbeaux and committee members voted to adjourn the meeting.
The adjournment decision came after committee members decided there were not enough department heads or city officials in attendance who could answer potential questions about the budget.
Mayor Julius Alsandor told the Board on Tuesday night that he is not required by law to attend budget meetings.
“My job is to give a budget to the (City) Council,” Alsandor said.
Alsandor said it is the responsibility of department heads to provide answers about their budgets to budget committees.
“That way the process can move forward,” Alsandor said.
City Treasurer LaWanda St. Ann said she provided opportunities for committee members to review the departmental budget requests prior to the Budget Committee meeting, but attendance at those pre-committee meetings scheduled in June was sparse.
After the department heads submitted their budget requests by the required June deadlines, St. Ann indicated that she notified all council members on Jun 23 that information containing the departmental requests was available for discussion.
Some council members failed to “follow up” to arrange meeting times to discuss the departmental proposals, according to St. Ann.
St. Ann said she was unavailable to attend the Budget Committee meeting last month.
City Clerk Leisa Anderson said she sent email notifications indicating times and dates for the adjourned Budget Committee meeting to all department heads,members of the Board of Aldermen and media.
Anderson said notification for the same budget meeting agenda was posted on the front door of City Hall.
